It's been 2 years since my ACL reconstruction surgery, and I'd say mission accomplished! I'm back to 100% (knock on wood) and feeling good about my leg. The past year I've been playing ultimate frisbee 3 nights a week and 1 night of personal training. I feel I still need PT to keep all the muscles in my legs/knee strong. The workouts target both legs (no preference for the acl leg)
Some various events in the past year:
- The tingling in my foot came back and this time didn't want to go away. Turns out it has nothing to do with my acl, but a condition in my foot called "XYZ". Not sure what it's called, but the doc gave me some special pads to put in my shoes and a month later it hasn't returned. The reason this cropped up is (as my doctor put it) "because you're doing so much running". So chances are all the ultimate and training put extra stress on my foot.
- Large tennis ball sized numbness on my surgical leg is still there, and is probably permanent.
- Inner quad on my surgical leg is 98% the size of my good leg. I've put a ton of work into getting there and I feel it's "good enough".
- I haven't noticed much knee soreness even with all the activities. Both knees get sore on various days, but it's not common. I assume being almost 32 is more likely the cause =)
- Playing ultimate at a competitive level now.
Goals going forward:
- Don't tear ACL.
- Watch my weight. This may seem odd considering I'm a lightweight, but due to part of my meniscus being removed and various bone bruises, I've been told I'll get arthritis at some point in my life. Every doctor says a different date (10 years, 15 years, 30 years). I can't stop it from happening but I can delay it. I can 1) Stop playing sports 2) keep muscles strong 3) keep my weight low. Since #1 is out and I'm doing #2, #3 is the only thing left.
- Don't tear ACL
I've decided not to tryout / play for a touring team, as I feel it'd be too much strain on my knee cartilage. But to be honest, I'm very happy with where I am now and hope to continue playing ultimate until my legs fall off!
11 comments:
Congrats! Sounds like you're doing awsome, and can you believe it's been TWO years?! I wish you the best in meeting those goals, espeically... Don't Tear ACL!!
nice to see your two year update. I remember your one year update well because I was just a few days out of my surgery. Now I am a year out and everything is still not perfect (one additional surgery to clean out the scar tissue), but things are coming along nicely. I hope you continue to keep your legs strong and never experience a major injury again.
Thanks!
I can't believe it's been 2 years. I was shocked when it was 1 year since my last post. Time flies! (although not when you're waiting for surgery)
Hope you guys are doing well too!
It's very encouraging to hear you're playing a lot of Ultimate again. I'll be starting with once a week and am crossing my fingers that things will go well.
It's all downhill after 30... ;) I'm thinking that is why my good knee is sore these days!
My name is Candise and I am a surgical technology student. I have been looking at blogs of people who have had to endure and recover from surgery to help me to understand patients better. I believe this will make me a better health care provider.
I have truly enjoyed your story and I am so excited for you to be playing ultimate Frisbee again. It must be so exciting. I am truly wishing you all the best. By the way, I love the "no midnight snacking or no morning tequila shots."
Thanks for sharing your story and your pictures!
Candise
Student, Baker College
Your welcome! Glad you enjoyed it!
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Hi there. I too had ACL surgery 2 years ago. All in all I feel good - I would say my leg is at about 85-90% as compared to the other. The one thing though is that I still have a very numb knee. Wasn't sure if this was normal or not but it seems you have some of that as well. Sometimes mine is more numb than at other times, but there is always some amount of numbness present. I am able to play tennis 2x a week and do pilates which I think have continued to strengthen my leg. Nice to read your blog.
-DFL
hi.. im azre villarico from philippines. i had acl reconstruction last april 18, 2012 on my left knee, the problem is that i cant raise up my ankle. is it because of swelling?
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